Can Wife Force Husband to Move Out?

Q.

My daughter in law has decided she no longer wants to be married to my son (for no good reason other than she is fed up). They have 3 year old twins. He is a fantastic father and does not wish to leave his home (that he jointly owns) and boys. Has she the right to make him leave prior to any legal separation or divorce?

A.

I was saddened to read that your son is in this situation with his wife and two young children. As for the question of whether your daughter in law has the right to tell your son to leave – the answer in short is no. Your daughter in law would need to get a solicitor, and go to court to obtain an order to force your son from the family home.

Valid Grounds for Divorce

You have mentioned that your daughter in law is merely ‘fed up’. This is not a valid ground for divorce unless your son was willing to accept that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. There are five ways that this can be proven:

• One spouse has committed adultery
• One spouse has behaved unreasonably
• One spouse has deserted the other for a minimum of two years
• Both spouses consent to separation and have remained separated for at least two years
• One spouse has decided to separate from the other spouse (without the other’s consent) for a minimum period of five years.

As your daughter in law may soon discover, it isn’t merely a matter of becoming fed up and deciding unilaterally to bring the marriage to an end.

Children and the Family Home

If your son decided that his marriage had become unbearable so that he chose to leave voluntarily, that would not have any effect on his ownership of the property – he would still be the joint owner.

In the event that your daughter in law does decide to pursue divorce proceedings, the court has wide ranging powers in relation to visitation rights and what happens to the family home. If the worst does come to the worst, your son has legal rights in relation to maintaining contact with his two children.

Marriage Help

It may be worth suggesting (obviously without wanting to look as though you’re interfering) that your son and his wife could try to address their problems, either by approaching Relate (www.relate.org.uk) or another marriage guidance service. Using this type of service is not a sign of weakness in a marriage, rather that the two people involved are adult enough to want to work together for the sake of their marriage and their children. If your daughter in law has left it until she is ‘fed up’ with the marriage before telling your son she feels this way, they may as a couple benefit from improving the way they communicate with one another.

I really hope that your son and daughter in law can address their issues without having to resort to separation or divorce.